ROGUE traders in Kent are up for a hard time now trading standards enforcement agencies have vowed to get tough.

Kent County Council trading standards and the police have pledged to tackle the major problem of rogue dealers selling dangerous or illegal goods or services.

They also want to track down the shadowy figures behind the black markets and take them to court whenever necessary.

The council's Regulatory Services Board is backing the new hard-line approach which involves working with police to speed up the process of arresting and prosecuting the criminal traders.

The move comes after recent operations highlighted the difficulties facing the trading standards officers.

In one case, several cars were seized by police and Trading Standards officers from a second-hand car salesman selling potentially dangerous vehicles.

However, it could take up to a year before the offender is prosecuted, during which time he may sell hundreds more vehicles.

Another recent example involved a man paying £2,000 deposit to a builder for a new conservatory. The work was so poor, he needed to spend another £2,000 to have the damage put right.

When the customer tried to take legal action, he was stumped because the cowboy builder was deliberately using a number of different names and addresses.

Chairman of KCC's Regulatory Services Board Terry Pears said: "Rogue traders can cause untold misery and considerable cost to their unfortunate victims."

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